Chief cricket writer for The Age

After years of putting jobs, relationships and lives on hold for their sport, Australia's world-beating female cricketers are about to take a big leap towards professionalism.

Cricket Australia is expected to announce a major improvement in pay and conditions for female players next week when it unveils the women's Ashes squad.

The stunning success of the national team, the Southern Stars, and the sacrifices women make to play domestic and international cricket, will also be acknowledged at an official celebration of the women's game in Sydney.

''We're getting closer to some of the girls being able to call cricket their profession,'' said Lisa Sthalekar, who retired, exhausted, after the Stars' World Cup triumph in February. She has witnessed the evolution from battling to cover costs, to modest contracts, to semi-professionalism.

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''About five years ago we started to get contracts, and that was a big step in the right direction. But with the recent success of the Southern Stars, and all the media coverage, they [Cricket Australia] have realised they need to pay the players appropriately for the time and effort they put into the game. I always hoped we would get to a position like this.''

Until now, the Southern Stars have been paid substantially less than their English rivals, despite being hailed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard as ''one of the most successful sporting teams ever to wear the green and gold''. The team, captained by Jodie Fields, holds the Ashes, the World Twenty20 title and the World Cup.

Lisa Sthalekar retired from competition after the World Cup this year. As a member of the players' union she has worked to instigate a better deal for female players. Photo: Peter Rae

A concerted effort has also been made to improve the lot of women in domestic cricket, with contracts to be extended to state players.

The Australian Cricketers Association, which has represented women for the past five years, recently conducted research that found costs associated with playing in the Women's National Cricket League put the average state player $3000 a year out-of-pocket.

The study revealed half of the current players anticipated they would have to retire early for financial reasons, and described the strain placed on personal relationships by the increasingly ''professional'' demands.

''We've been concerned for a number of years about the standard [of the national league] simply because girls past 25 are not sticking around,'' said Sthalekar. ''If they haven't played for Australia by then they think, 'It's costing me money, I might as well go and make a living.' Hopefully, now they can work or study part-time, and train hard, and this will lengthen some careers.''

Sthalekar, who sits alongside male stars Mike Hussey and George Bailey on the ACA executive, chewed up annual leave and took unpaid time off from her job with Cricket NSW to become one of the best all-rounders in the world. In the end, she just missed out on benefits she helped create, but that doesn't diminish her satisfaction. ''I got to finish on a high, and we played so much cricket last season I couldn't have done it again. But I think this will allow the players to go to the next level.''